Kate's Incredible Running Transformation

um push it like don't decide you can't do something like keep trying you know like whether it's a workout or a new distance or whatever it is it's it's fun to go after something a little scary but then don't hold back like go for it don't be afraid to push and then keep pushing but don't get so wrapped up in your mind like I've seen so many people um they're in the middle of it and they're obsessing over what already happened don't no be here in this moment what can you do right now and then just decide you're going to keep trying for that thing because like that's where that's where it all is you know that's where all that magic is where you're like you can look back and it doesn't really matter what happened then because as long as you gave it what you had and you gave it your best you're gonna be stoked on that you know hello hello today I'm going to be interviewing my friend Kate Martini Freeman she's an incredible athlete and a really good running coach as well actually she coached me together with her husband Jimmy Dean Freeman when I first really got into running and I've learned so much from her she has an incredible running portfolio herself her first marathons he ran in 459 and over the years he was able to improve that gradually until a PR of 258 so a lot of improvements along the way and she has also ran many different Ultra distances as well she has won 550k distances she has around a 50 miler and 100 Miler as well so definitely a very broad background as a runner one thing that I respect from her a lot is that she's a mom of two and she's still able to find really creative ways of being able to get her training in and still being able to run at a very high level for example a few years ago I was actually able to Pace her whilst he set a very fast record time of running a marathon with a stroller so we've gone on many different running adventures and have learned a lot from her along the way in today's conversation we take a deep dive into how she was able to improve her running over the years a few other topics are the differences in training between men and women and older Runners and younger Runners a lot of talk about setting goals as well that absolutely scare you one thing I respect about Kate a lot is that she for example picked up stand-up comedy something she was very scared and afraid of doing purely to go into the unknown's scary territory Where We Are all grow and there's a lot of similarities there between stand-up comedy and doing some races that might scare you as well with the extra mileage show it is my desire to bring educational videos to the general public for free and the aim is really for you to become a stronger healthier and happier athlete with that being said I would like to thank the sponsors of today's episode element is an electrolyte drink mix that has everything that you need and nothing that you don't so there's plenty of sodium potassium and magnesium and no sugar I typically start my day drinking a large glass of water of about 500 milliliter so half a liter and I add one package of element it helps me rehydrate it helps me with my focus and with my physical performance increasing my electrolyte intake has made a noticeable difference in my energy levels no more brain fog and improved quality of sleep sometimes after harder or longer workouts I would get a brain fog or like a headache in the morning and this no longer happens either element has a no BS no questions asked return policy so you can try it for an unlimited amount of time and if you don't like it you can ask for your money back you can even keep the box that's how confident they are that you will love it go to drinkelemente.com flow to get a free sample pack of eight flavors with your first order that is d-r-i-n-k lmnt.com Flo you see also the link in my description today's episode is also brought to you by hvmn Ketone IQ Ketone IQ by hvmn is a supplement that increases your blood Ketone levels many people including myself find that increasing your blood Ketone levels can greatly improve your cognitive abilities and your physical output for mental performance and for exercise I use Ketone IQ for improved focus with work projects such as preparing for this podcast and also on some of my longer and harder workouts Andrew huberman from the huberman Lab podcast also speaks frequently about the benefits that he notices with using Ketone IQ as brain fuel I'm a huge fan of his work and I'm noticing more athletes take this such as Sarah Hall and Ben Greenfield if you would like to try Ketone IQ you can go to hvmn.com flow to save 20 off your order once again that is hvmn.com Flo just save 20 off your order or if you're located in the US you can visit any of the Sprouts locations nationwide hope you enjoy my conversation with Kate Martini Freeman hello Kate hi hello welcome thank you to uh to sit down and finally have a well overdue conversational record right so you you have made a big impact in my life in my running and also in my racing and like General in my Approach of life so man I want to say first of all thank you no I like it it's been really fascinating both you and Jimmy throughout your coaching and throughout your guidance you've really brought a lot of joy to my running and so I want to really take a deep dive into you as a running coach but I want to take a take a look as to you as a runner as well so maybe you can give some background information there of how long have you been running like how has that transition been from you because it wasn't always that you were a top-notch runner you've definitely improved over the years yeah we'll be yeah it's interesting so growing up I was not a runner I actually swam and played soccer and then it wasn't until after college uh right during when I met Jimmy and he moved to LA in his first one of his first jobs in La was coaching a marathon team I don't know if he told you the story but I was like oh cool I'm gonna I'm gonna be on the team and him being like the lifelong Runner was like oh oh honey you don't you don't start with a marathon I don't think you would say that to anybody now but at that time uh I looked at him I was like but but a 5k like he was like oh you start with a 5K and um I was like well 5K is not on my bucket list like a marathon is I'm gonna do it so I started training for that and I remember that first 16 mile run in that training season was literally harder than my first marathon it was so hard um and I felt like I got through that it was really just because I didn't eat enough calories during that first 16 mile run you know those first few years years of running where you don't know anything oh I actually have to eat what and um so by the time I towed the line and did that first marathon I mean it was definitely challenging but there was something about I would say it's like it was giving purpose to my daily workout you know like it I love to work out I always worked out my whole life I you know did something luckily my group in a home where my mom always encouraged us to move she didn't care what it was we had to do something that's good um so yeah I started from a place where it was just something I wanted to finish the marathon and I fell in love with having something to train for so that first marathon I mean I finished barely breaking five hours 459.51 how did that go what was that first race experience life oh my gosh I don't even remember all of it to be honest it I chose to run the Kona marathon in June so it was a little hot and Kona is beautiful um the first so I think it was an out and back and that first six miles you kind of ran through town so it was it was lovely there were people cheering and trees but then it kind of turned slowly things started to disappear as you got outside of town and then you were literally running through like lava Fields that's what I see with Iron Man always over there it was that you ran on like the Iron Man course yeah um and uh so then you do the six miles through kind of like these lava Fields And in June and it was like dark lava feels and you're like uh and then you had to turn around and I remember I headed heading back at least I had something to look forward to um and you know that's always great to have something to look forward to in a race and I always will tell my Runners that now I'm like I don't care what it is like save your favorite goo flavors for the end whatever it is um have something to look forward to uh and I was coming back and I remember Jimmy found me on the course because he was a coach and luckily we had a bunch of friends do the race with us so I kept seeing friends and some I would pass some would pass me um and once we got into town I knew I was getting closer and I just remember I don't know if I can curse on your show but I remember yeah go for it bitching him out I was like so mad because he came up and he was coaching he was so peppy you know and I was just like and I think at one point um he was like let me hold your water and it was Kona in June so and I didn't know anything yet it's right so I had a little like Camelback and I remember I think I made him hold it for me whatever it was at one point I was so thirsty I just looked at him and I just didn't say anything I just snatched a little um tube and I was drinking it just like girl and um I don't remember the end exactly I imagine he had me pick up the pace for whatever the case probably because he knew I was very close to five hours um and I just gave it everything I had I was completely spent and I remember being so happy to finish finished and you know breaking five hours at 4 59 51. I always remember that and um immediately I knew I wanted to do another one it was the weirdest thing like setting out to do it I didn't even think about the next one and immediately I was like I'm gonna do another one um which I did like that felt that year later I did my second one in November I'm surprised you wanted to sign up that quickly Sometimes some people had the first marathon experience and they're like whoa that was so rough I'm never doing another one in my life yeah if you signed up for the next right away yeah and I mean I see that I see you know all the way all the ways like I mean you know now that was in 2002 right so I'm gonna throw like other distances in there but after my first hundred I was like oh hell no I am not doing that again I have done another one since but I've only done two yeah you know and I I know I'll do another one at some point you know I definitely want to see what I can do there but it's not it's not right now and then over the years like how many how many races have you done or how many marathons or Ultras like well you know what I don't even know I it's well over 40 marathons um I haven't done as many Ultras uh I you know like the 200s I've only done one fif one 100K and then a few 50 milers and a lot of 50ks I'm not sure I'd have to go look at results it's funny because so many Runners and somebody always keep track of everything you know like they have to finish the the mile on the dot and all of that I am not that Runner I literally am like whatever half the time I just have a rolling number in my head of my training plan you know yeah um and it depends on different things what my goals are you know how specific I am but um yeah I definitely last time I calculated I think it was like 46 marathons but I'm sure it's well over that now but there was a lot of years where I was coaching and training and I would do three marathons a year and then a few other things and then um there was a couple years in 2006 and seven where I did some triathlons because I had a swimming background um and I wanted to do an Iron Man so I did one and it was awesome um I would definitely do another one but I'd want to train with friends yeah um yeah and then I started doing Ultras in 2009 so I definitely it was spread out over a lot of years yeah yeah so what I find interesting is that you were able to bring your marathon time from about five hours to sub three yeah how have you been able to improve over the years and and do you see similarities of what what you learned over the years with some of the athletes that you're coaching as well with ways to improve yeah I mean for me like I wasn't naturally fast I mean maybe somebody would say otherwise I mean I loved it and I think for me it was um it was having something to motivate you ongoingly and chipping away and just enjoying the journey such that it wasn't like let down after let down like I had I had so many races I I guess not let down it's more like you not not having every race as such pressure you know so it was it was literally the joy of running like I did that 459 right and then that November I knew I could go faster and I did a 424. so that was a lot of time off just from my first to second Marathon um but when I first found out about the Boston Marathon it was I think it was even after my first marathon I didn't even know it existed learned about it and literally my conversation was like oh that's cool that's nice I'm just I'm not that Runner just didn't think I was then I ran that 424 and then loved training so I just kept training I loved who I was training with I loved the way I was doing keeping it fun learning about injuries along the way which is a whole nother conversation um we'll dive into that later exactly so many things to running I always say that I'm like running seems so simple but there's so much to know um and that's what's beautiful about it you know the journey um but so I loved like it was something that I looked forward to on The Daily and I found as long as I like honored those you know rest times and step back weeks then I kept like The Stoke was still there you know it wasn't like grueling and yeah sometimes now it's hard to get up at 5am to run but you have to have something to look forward to and make it make it be something that you're enjoying the journey otherwise what's the point like the coyotes we always say you know if you're not having fun you're doing it wrong you know and it is kind of that um but uh so I chipped away right and then over time I eventually was like oh my God I could break four hours cool and I did and I broke four hours and that's when I was like holy I could totally do the Boston Marathon and once I broke four it was like oh I'm doing that and then when I went to cheer Jimmy on in at the Boston Marathon in 2005 right so that was three years only three years in um he he you know that was his first time running Boston and just being there and the energy you know and some of these Ultras I'm out like cheering Jimmy on at Wasatch when he was doing all the 600s and that 13 week period whatever that energy I was like I got to do this race someday Boston was just like that and I looked at him and Jimmy's dad I remember I was like I'm gonna be here next year and I'm gonna be racing this my time was so far off still I don't remember how much it was probably 359 or something so I was still so so far off and what would you have to run to qualify at that time it was a sub 340. so it was before they dropped the times and yeah I probably had like 19 months to go which in a year most people would be like that's probably not worth it I didn't care I was like I am doing this so I was just like woman on a mission on fire train my ass off um and so that was increased training volume that was increased consistency or yeah what were those changes so luckily because I was started in 2002 and I was consistent for those years so my base was already really there um if you ramp up too quickly that's is where you get all those little injuries along the way so I was lucky I had you know like a little knee injury my first running marathon it was just you know whatever it was at that time it was just the body didn't have that base so by the time 2005 rolled around I had three years of consistency so that base was there so I was able to increase the mileage um you know everyone coaches will tell you to increase by 10 at a time all of us know that 10 is kind of a little bit so we all push it I try not to push it over 20 keep it in the 10 15. so I definitely pushed it on the brink sometimes um my own personal training philosophy now is variety like such variety where I feel like most people don't work that in enough and what I mean by that is Variety in Pace Variety in like your workouts so I really started to get serious about cross-training and doing strength training especially for female Runners um we naturally are built with less muscle so we have to work that you have to have muscle to support this kind of running and the impact you just do you know um if you want to have you know longevity in the sport so for me it looked like increased mileage um increase in speed training most people focus on speed but in the first you know part of your period like periodization you know it's like how we like to train so that first you know one third of your training season more focused on strength and hills and then I'll transition transition into more speed training so I'm lucky because I like speed training like whatever form whatever workout um and again as long as it's fun you know as long as I'm looking towards forward to it it sounds good uh but at the same time I'm also somebody that will have fun if it's really hard you know I'm not afraid to push it and like be the one like dry heaving at the end of just a workout you know so um so what kind of strength training would that involve would that be going to a gym would it be more like Hill training would it be a variety of different things there so uh both for me at that time um it was the gym a few times a week so like weights um and definitely Hills as well so I would I mean I always do strength training right now I'm doing strength training only twice a week but ideally like three times a week and maybe it's only 20 30 minutes maybe it's 40 minutes so it's not a tremendous amount um now I've gotten gotten more into like I go to Orange Theory and you know do the circuit training which I'm sure Jimmy mentioned too um but uh back then I was going to a gym so I think I was going to Equinox yeah um and doing weights or classes whatever it is you know mixing it up just have that variety and uh you know less impact so um on those those days I'd probably or some of the more cautioning days hit the pool or the bike um definitely Hills uh I didn't really get into like hills and trails to a little bit later so and that's where my times really started to drop too though so um Beyond like you know Boston times so for me to go from sub four to Boston it was specifically just more strength training with weights and then more speed training towards the second half of my training Seasons yeah it is fascinating how both you and Jimmy in your coaching approach even for road runners yeah take quite a few of those Runners to the trails for some of their workouts can you talk about the reasoning behind that it was honestly because we once we both started doing it we started seeing our times drop so and also motivation wise because running running a road Marathon it takes it takes a lot like sometimes to recover from a 50 miler is easier almost sometimes with that impact you know just asphalt's a little rough yeah you know it's awesome because return and you're like I'm from a hard hard concrete versus the softer Trails yeah absolutely but also just purely for the enjoyment level and I mean if you look at if you're training you know even those times when I was training for you know chipping away at the 311 to 300 you know through nine through a nine and then 304 whatever it was you know um maybe I was doing Trails a little bit less but I was still doing it a lot at the beginning and then a lot of the Trails um on the recovery weeks you know because I really started understanding like you have to take those recovery weeks very very serious um I feel like most people they kind of lock into their pace and they stay at a similar pace and they'll drop their mileage a little bit for step back week but we get so in our heads as Runners and we kind of get obsessive over the numbers and I'd rather see a week that's real big and then a week that's really really recovery focused you know and most of us will take one week off when we maybe our body needs to we're afraid to adjust you know and I get it I totally get it because we're all running for different reasons and most of them are great reasons um but so yeah for me I really saw my times drop when I would work in a 50k five to six weeks before a marathon which I would not recommend to a first-time marathoner but if you have a big big base and you enjoy the trails I have a whole different way to do a training program for a marathon now and the trails it's because when you can run a 50k or something longer you're not as I mean you still respect the Marathon distance and to run that fast for that far is really really hard but you just have a different level of endurance so once I took to the trails that's when I did see those times drop but it's also because I had the mental capacity to push put further you know and you know I think my first few Marathon teams and I wouldn't I wouldn't take a first-time Runner or even a second or third I mean maybe a third but probably a second time marathoner beyond the distance you know I would take them up to 20 maybe 22 miles you know I'd rather do different workouts where it's focused on you know slowing it down and then speeding it up in an 18 mile or something like that you know yeah but um yeah for the trail specifically it's because it was strength less impact it kept the interest there and then over time more endurance yeah you know the other part that I've noticed is when we were going in the early stages or like in some of these training Cycles we would spend several hours on the trail sometimes and it wasn't all running running running there was hiking involved there was occasional breaks involved and it was more about spending time outside on your feet versus being running for three hours straight or for two hours straight and like once again goes back to what you were saying earlier like finding that joy in in the running and the community element of it as well yeah and I mean I it's like I mean old yes even if we had big goals and we you know win races and all that ultimately this is a hobby so if it's not adding to your life and I mean I'm not saying be lacks and basically about it always I mean if you do set big goals and go for it and like crush your body sometimes you know like in in a speed workout but like not when you're injured like let's you know scale it back and unfortunately we don't learn that until you know you do it the wrong way a few times maybe and that's okay too but um I always said like you know find the gold in whatever it is you know it's like I've had races where I'll kind of like give up a little at the end and then I'll get fourth place and I'm like oh and so I'm like okay I learned learn take the goal take the gold to the next race I'm like nope I don't care how I feel at the end I'm gonna give it my all because then I'm gonna I know that I gave it my best you know um but uh yeah it's it's it's it's a unique sport because it takes you through you know so many mental places along the way too sure it does how do you deal with the tough spots in a race once once you get to that spot and you know all right things are gonna get rough and I still have X amount of time to go like is there anything mentally that you tell yourself and or something at least that you work with as well to get through that yeah it's interesting I mean I think there's so many different uh mantras or tricks that I have like knowing myself now um it I hadn't thought about this for a long time but um for a long time when Jimmy first got it into Ultras and if I had real extreme extreme pain or like knee pain or something I I had trouble running through it I I couldn't you know I really couldn't run through that kind of pain but also once I really established more of the Cross training and like the strength training I found um I could withstand it in a different way but also my body could handle it better once I had more variety in my training like fast and slow and strength and you know big weeks and real step back weeks um and I think because I would push it more in in the training I learned ways to push it more in the race and kind of drop the hammer um but oh what I was gonna say about Jimmy I remember for so long he'd be like just devastated in the middle of an ultra and then he'd turn it on and just crush it on the second half and I was always like but how do you run through that pain I don't understand and I can remember it's funny because now I can like run through so many different things just life experiences and you take things along the way and you learn and you figure out you know how your own mind works but I remember not understanding how we could run through pain uh like like a stabbing knee pain or something like that like so intense I was like I just don't get it um and then over time kind of chipping away at it and just going for a really big kind of scary goals and you know yeah you could look and most people you know are logical they're like I'm gonna do a marathon and then I'm gonna do a 50k and then I'm gonna do you know 50 miler also being exposed to Ultras and just seeing people be at rock bottom and be able to recover that's inspiring you know so it's like you draw strength from other people and then you I was able to draw strength from my own races um along the way like I said you know if I gave up a little well next time I'm gonna push through and I'll remember that so that's why I always say like take the little piece of gold like no matter how terrible something is there's some little something in there that you can use for the next one and really dialing in nutrition so I learned once I could dial in nutrition oh hey guess what that wall in the marathon not so much a wall if you eat right you know oh oh my body likes electrolytes Okay cool so it's like you set yourself up for success and um you do what you can and be in the moment I also found it's um a lot of us mentally will whatever you're feeling in that moment in that hard spot we're like oh it's only going to be here you know and same thing when you're earlier in the race when you're like I'm on target for this time you think it's just gonna remain the same whether it's really really great or really really terrible your mind tends to think it's only going to stay there but the second you can be like oh it's gonna change and that took a while for me to get there um respect or just like knowing that it's It's Gonna Change again and that's the raise experience for only as well right just haven't gone through that several times and knowing that you can recover and get in a better spot after a low spot as well oh my God yeah absolutely and a lot of times it's like okay this is really really a hard spot what can I do right now that's actually going to help me next yeah but then it also puts you in a space like I literally will think of like my third eye this is where my Santa Cruz hippie you know my mom yoga you know all of that but I'll like literally focus on my third eye and my power center kind of a thing and it's like these like you said all your little tips and tricks and sometimes they're just so second age to me I forget about them but I always have like a mantra and I'll always you know have a kind of a plan like you know when it gets hard what am I gonna do yeah and for me um I tend to focus on especially in marathons I focus on how much time I have left because it's not very much time like mileage can be a little hard when you're like oh five miles oh that's so long but if you're like okay it's really really hard right now and this is really really terrible but I have less than one hour of running right so the only hard part of the marathon I mean yes they're hard but it's it's that last like six to eight miles that's so hard yeah and for most of us it's like once we get to that point you're like okay I have less than an hour or whatever it is if it's an hour and a half two hours I don't care whatever the time is you think about oh this is this is probably my biggest Mantra and help out there right I start thinking about all the amazing things and so often in your training programs or your whole running career you'll be like oh I missed a workout oh I did this oh I didn't hit my speed workout well if you can switch that thinking to like oh my God remember that that one Tuesday night track workout where I passed everybody I I was faster than my goal time you know or oh my God that stair workout that I just crushed It Whatever It Is in that long run that I did remember that long run that was so I ran 30 miles on trails and felt great and we invest so much in the in how we feel in our training um but people don't remember that they're never fully recovered so like if you do a taper and you like toe that line tapered and you actually you know it's like you don't gain the muscle until you recover you know so you start that race and if you're you know serious about that race and you tapered properly and you're like mentally in a good place well it's gonna feel way different you can't assume it's gonna feel like whatever that long longest you know Peak run was but we forget that in the training period and then when we're out there in the race it does feel better you know um but so the thing that helps me the most is remembering all the things I did that were awesome you know and remembering how much time I put into this and what that does is it puts me in a place where I'm like dude I have one hour left like come on pull it together just give it your best every single step and I I kind of feel like at that point I become like a little Bulldog where I just won't let myself give up even if I'm like slowing down I'm like nope speed up and that's why I always say like just keep keep trying like literally for a mile like 23 on to the Finish even 20 on but really like 23 on because I would say 20 to 22 just just hold hold pace and then 23 to the finish the entire time just try to speed up I don't care if you are or not just keep trying and if you just if you're just in the mode of trying you'll surprise yourself you know let's dive into running injuries and illnesses for a little bit because I think we all to some extent experience it throughout running careers I I want to meet the person that's had no injury or sickness and learn from them yeah exactly right so I've had all of the above tell me a little bit about how you would go about dealing with injuries personally yourself throughout training cycles and also when you work with different athletes any guidelines recommendations for other athletes dealing with injuries uh you know it's interesting because I've had smaller injuries and bigger injuries and it wasn't until I had a bigger injury that I had to take legitimate time off from running that I don't know my it was like myself and who I was was so I I I identified with being a runner so much and it's funny because I wasn't a runner and then I was and then when I couldn't run it was like I had to Soul search and like it was such a it was such a like it was so hard on my ego you know and it was I remember you know when I had to take had to take the time off and being at parties and hear Runners talk and I was just like I gotta get out of here all they're doing is talking about their times and you know eating and um but it wasn't until I had to take that time off that I really got how much the body needs to actually have that break from Impact to recover and I I always cut a smirk when everyone and I think all of us have said this and I said this for most of my running I took a week off like what I'm not healed in a week nah your body's you know I said your body's not really going to heal on something from a week most likely and we're so afraid to take that time off but how many times have we run through injury and race through injury and months of dealing with the same injury and certain injuries take longer like right now like in my little girl group of like runners in the mornings last year um I think three out of four of us had the hamstring issues that we were dealing with hamstring takes a long time to heal and some things um some things you can run through and some things you that take longer to heal and if you keep running through it it's just gonna take longer so as hard as it is to take that time off um and depending on the injury so it's like it really depends on what it is to know how much time you need and how you need to adjust and most of the time yeah you got to talk to your coaches or talk to your PT or your doctor whatever it is I mean some doctors some some you know urged anti-running as we all know but um there's always a way but um you know there's things out there where you can still maintain your Fitness and yes it's not ideal uh but it is if you want to race uh not injured you know and it's like who wants to race danger you know like we've done that and it's yeah not fun so how do you recognize some of those signals of like like before you get injured yeah obviously you're pushing your level your your stress levels to a certain extent to be able to grow yeah however you can push it too far out I'm like how do you listen to those signals and what can you do yeah I think a lot of us have to learn by mistake unfortunately um and I've done that a few times uh and even now you kind of know like if you just take a moment and I know it's hard because we're always inundated with everything all the time and we're wanting to do all the things but if you really take a moment and listen to your body most of the time you'll know okay if this is getting worse or even if I have a little nagging thing and in the middle of that workout it's starting to get worse you got to stop yeah like you just if it's getting worse stop and a lot of times we don't and yes I get it like you push through but it's different um if you're muscular pain like when you're running up you know a stair workout and you know hit double steps and all of that yeah that's gonna burn that's gonna hurt but um it's different and I feel like if we can take a moment and just check in with our bodies you know and you need to pull back you don't want to so I always say run with your body not with your head in those moments okay um so listen to your body listen to those signals and yes while it's hard to take those one to two weeks off a lot of times if you just step back for that one to two weeks but um I do find it's easier if you have a plan or something else that you like to do so maybe that's Aqua jogging maybe that doesn't hurt your injury and I know it's terribly boring but blasted music and I don't know have some like like you got candies on the ends like whatever you have to do to make it okay so tell me more about that part so you would basically go into a pool I mean that's just one you know basically I I would adjust okay so if if there's an injury and if it's feeling worse and then it'll work out wherever it is my rule with myself was just call it for that day do something else so Aqua jogging was something that I enjoyed because I'm kind of a water kid you know grew up by the beach and all that it's it's it's maddeningly boring you wear a floaty belt and you can I mean if it's a shallow pool some people run on the bottom but ideally you float and you literally I mean you're working against the water with your arms so it's got a little mini arm workout too and your legs and you basically look like a toy soldier and you're moving tremendously slow down the lane and if you go to a regular pool where people are swimming laps they'll be like looking weird person doing but again just get it done um and I mean I I will do anything I mean anything that's not going to make the injury worse and most of the time what you need to do is you know minimize the impact and depending on what the injury is whether it's me it's a different walk of jogging is usually pretty good on the knees you know but if it's hamstring maybe something else is better you know so it's um figuring out what's not going to aggravate it but I get like keeping your endurance and your Fitness up um I also do believe though taking a little bit of time off right away is better than training for longer with an injury and then potentially you know expecting that injury to go away in your taper before your race um and I I've done it both ways and I've learned uh you know when you need to kind of step back find a way that's going to make it a little more bearable and then kind of get through it um a lot of us like if we do go to PT or something for whatever it is maybe we won't do exactly what they tell us to do you know maybe we'll you know kind of half-ass it uh do what you're supposed to do you know just just do it but you have to make it habit you have to work it into your life and like literally schedule it like okay I'm gonna do my strength training on Mondays and Wednesdays and Fridays and if I miss it one day I'm not gonna make it be the end of the world I'm not gonna run myself ragged trying to schedule it and remake it up maybe I'll push it more on like my next speed training day or maybe on a day on a random Thursday I feel amazing I'm gonna turn it into a tempo run you know so it's like having a little Mallet like flexibility um and then just kind of trusting your body and knowing like oh I can I know I bought it you know yeah you can you have coaches and you have all these people to lean on you know or maybe you don't but it's like you kind of can figure out a way to push and pull back and so it's like that little balance but I would say finding something else that you can do so you're not going completely mad and maybe it's like I'm going to read a little more too whatever it is yeah you know however much time you need but you have to um fill that time beforehand and have an idea what we're going to do or at least have a plan because otherwise you'll get you'll keep running or you'll be really miserable so what about when people get a flu or a cold throughout the training cycle because that's the other thing oh yeah especially between yourself especially throughout in the winter or when you have kids or you're surrounded and you're traveling or any of these kind of little germ Gremlins man yeah so if it's in your chat if you feel under your chest it's best not to run so like recently I had like a little chess thing and it was like great I have to take another week off for two weeks or however long it's going to be if it's like in your throat and in your head if it's like a head thing you can usually run through it it's not gonna be as comfortable maybe you're not going to nail your time but that's kind of the general very easy way to figure out it can I run or can I not is it in my chest you shouldn't run is it not in my chest okay well maybe it's not gonna be comfortable but you could probably do it yeah that's you know you know my fake Dr Kate advice for you don't run if it's in your chest big disclaimer we're both not doctors we don't pretend to be anything laughs yeah no and and yeah I think that's that's very true and and listening to to how the body reacts and and indeed sometimes taking a step back day and and really letting the body rest and sleep sleeping a bit extra I can be very beneficial there as well yeah and one step backwards two step forward yeah you know I I'm a big believer like it's gonna sound for people that train not every day they're gonna be like what but take one day of rest a week just always and then if you have to look at your month like one week of the month should be recovery and I love to see it when people really drop the mileage I'm not talking like oh I did 55 miles rather than 60. I'm talking like yeah maybe you do 60 to 70 miles a week ish or however many hours on feet that is maybe your step back week is like 20 to 30 like extreme step back I love to see that I'm not saying you can't still work out you can do other things you know less impact you know cycling whatever it is it should be something you normally do or work it in you know gradually Let the Body adjust to it but I think a lot of people are afraid to step back which is funny because then on the other side maybe some of us struggle more with like how do I push it more you know so yeah I guess it's just being being like in tune with you know what you want to do and where you want to take it so adjusting along the way yeah yeah yeah so you have over the years worked with many different athletes you've seen you've seen some athletes succeed and do really really well and yet some other athletes are setting certain goals and they might not necessarily succeed in reaching some of those goals like have you seen any similarities between like what what makes people like accomplish more or what makes people reach higher and actually accomplish what they set out to do versus some people who might not get there yeah that's it that's a that's a fun question um it's interesting because I think if I had to say just one thing of how the similarity I see amongst everybody would be I mean it's an element of just believing that you can or maybe you like you know even if you're like oh I don't know if I can do it but if you're going for it there's that element of you that believes that you can so it's just it's like that old like throw in your hat over the fence I'm gonna go for this um but if you're if it's something that you're enjoying it I feel like that's gonna be six like you're gonna see more success so I would say they're they're liking what they're doing so whether it's the training team they're looking forward to it or um you know they're just they're just all in after that goal so it's just it's going for it deciding you're gonna go for it you know because if you're kind of like one foot in one foot out it's gonna make the whole thing harder so I would say the successes would be going for it maybe going for something big that's a little bit scary um maybe if I'm seeing people that are not hitting their goals I feel like people maybe aren't patient enough Sometimes some people that I've coached like they want to have something and they want to have it like this training season um sometimes you have to adjust and make it a few year process you know it's like somebody that really made an impact Gordy Ainsley go figure right The Godfather of Ultras you know um I was just hanging out with him at an aid station once and he was like Hey you know if I had to give somebody advice it would be for Ultras a year per distance increase and most people aren't patient enough to do that I wasn't I went from a marathon to a 50 miler I did like a couple triathlons I did an Iron Man you know like yeah I'll just I but I like to say go where the inspiration is like if you're lit up and inspired by go for it do it all in you know if it sounds logical to go from a marathon to a 50k and that's what you want to do cool but if the 50 miler sounds even better do it but maybe pick the one that's a little bit further away maybe like extend it a little bit and you know work in like a nice periodization and like a great taper and you know honor the build weeks and the step back weeks um but uh yeah I I I it would be impatience to answer impatience um they want it and they want it now and their body you got to let your bodies adjust you know we're not like all 18. that's for sure what kind of differences have you seen there with at least in the 20s and 30s sometimes recover quite a bit faster than some athletes in their 50s 60s 70s like do would you have different training and coaching recommendations there for athletes of different ages and if so what what sort of way would that be yeah absolutely good question um so yeah absolutely every I feel like every decade recovery gets harder um and I'm not 40 yet and so I like to take knowledge ahead of time and I'm already planning how I'm gonna run in my 40s and 50s and 60s luckily with that coyotes I get to run with people of all ages so when I'm you know a guy that runs with us on Thursdays he's in his 60s and he's always giving me tips he's and that's the thing he's like Kate recovery gets harder every year or every decade um and he was like most people will tell you oh in your 40s he's like no no yeah you got to adjust you have you have to adjust but he's like it doesn't get real hard until you're 60s and I'm like okay okay I got it I got it I can still do some great things in my 40s and 50s cool um but so specifically warm up cool down uh it's funny stretching is something it's something different for everybody but um what I really am a huge fan of now is dynamic warm-ups so I just have some simple ones that I do a lot of times it's like basically lunges in all directions and not only does it warm up up the body but it opens up and warms up the hips and then for me I like to do a lot of single leg in all directions you can also see right away before you start your run so like for me it would for most Runners it would be warm up like maybe it's a mile mile and a half whatever it is then do a dynamic workout or sorry like a dynamic warm-up and you'll also be able to see if something's tight like oh my left my left calf is a little tight well you're already warmed up you did some Dynamic warm-ups so yeah you can stretch that calf a little bit you can you know massage it or whatever feels right like I'll usually have a like a roller or just stretch a little bit whatever it is um I like to do my check-in during my Dynamic warm-up I would recommend that for everybody and I know we don't have time for that all the time I mean I've done plenty runs where I run right from my door run back no stretching you know so um but just kind of checking in with your body um also what I've learned to do is if I do have an injury whatever help that injury still try to do that so like I had plantar fasciitis once well I still do my you know feet exercises maybe it's at my desk maybe it's only once a week maybe I forget and it's a couple times a month but I'll still try to remember to strengthen my feet um so for everybody across the board it would be warm up a little cool down some Dynamic warm-up or you know workouts whatever it is and then I mean stretching figuring out what works for you um I'm not the best stretcher but uh whatever works and um I think as you each decade it's probably just more of a warm-up yeah you know maybe it's a little bit longer maybe it's just adjusting on the day if you and your body's not wanting to do you know speed that day no I I really like that that part too depart even what you said earlier about warming up and actually listening to the to your body what it's telling you and doing that checkup I think that's a very valuable Point what about like so obviously with with age things change but then previously you mentioned for example women needing to focus a little bit extra on strength during certain stages as well are there any other differences with the the training and Racing for women than with men or is that mostly I mean strength related I mean we you know we deal with menstrual cycles once a month if you want to get it out sometimes it's harder to you know do a race during that time than some people they don't they don't worry about it and some it does affect them whatever the case so typically yeah maybe it'll be better to have a recovery week it depends on like you know your own body um but we'll have that to deal with but then you know I don't know like people said on the other side of childbirth you can run better you know like whatever it is so um but I mean not really I would say I mean I guess we have to honor a little bit differently like our just even our hip angles like put a little more pressure on our knees so it's like that's why I'm a big believer in the in a little bit of strengthening but I think guys should do strength training too everybody should do strength training in my opinion like if you want to get faster do strength training you know yeah I do speed training too but you have to have the strength there to support it um uh I just remembered one other thing as far as aging too um I specifically anybody like once they get over 25 I was like do not go from running really fast running really slow quickly don't do it I have seen so many people like get injured in like a warm-up because they're doing you know like butt kicks or something I'm like it's not about hitting your butt it's just about warming up your body okay we're not trying to like don't try to just force the body aggressive yeah don't force the body so I would say push it but you don't need to go to Zero from zero to sixty in a second like take your time on both sides of it we're not like doing a Sprint here you know so on for that um but yeah I don't see a lot of other differences um if you want to get into like recovery I would say um everybody should work on recovery too as much as we've talked about like warming up and stretching I think a lot of people don't and I see there's a lot of Runners like the things I see most are new Runners they are not eating enough and they're not eating consistently enough like I am like clockwork I will have 100 calories every 30 minutes I will have a salt stick every 45 minutes to one hour and I drink a lot of water I just drink a lot of sometimes this is race strategy that's my race strategy that's my like training on strategy if I waver on that I mean maybe I need a little more a little less and I know I can't go over under 150 I can't go over 250 like my body's not gonna process it but you learn that through experimenting I feel like most people um at the beginning don't eat enough because they got through it well that's great you got through that run but if you are in deficit during a workout or a race whatever it is you're not going to recover well and then it's not about I mean there's different things you can do obviously if you're like trying to have your body train on fats and there's different things you can do but it's it's not about just like getting through it barely surviving it's like if you Fuel and then you set yourself up for Recovery then your body's gonna already be recovering so you're gonna be awesome in your next workout you know so you're not always seriously yeah yeah yeah yeah so um yeah it's just like that consistency but um that recovery so right after too it's like you know the four to one carbs to protein and like you've got to eat after and if you can't stomach something after figure out something whether it's you know a protein gel shot like for Recovery or even a banana like a bite like I don't care what it is like you eat something after it doesn't have it's fine if it's an hour and a half for under you know but I'm talking about those longer ones set yourself up for success by recovering after doing some foam rolling doing some ice baths do the things you got to do you know so you set yourself up for Success on the next one yeah yeah yeah I think one part I want to talk a little bit more about is setting big goals and getting in in in almost carry a known territory and one of these reminds me of when you invited me to a stand-up comedy show a few years back which I have so much respect for that you even dare to stand in front of a group like that tell me a little bit more about why you have done that several times why you put yourself in some of these situations where you're quite this like uncomfortable it's kind of the unknown what is your reasoning behind doing some of these things I guess I like to see what I can do like I don't know what I can do until I go for it um and I've kind of always had this philosophy if somebody cry if something crosses my path and it looks interesting I should try it I should go for it you know sometimes that's gotten me into trouble but most of the time it's taken me on really cool Adventures you know um and I I think I just it's probably just again take it back to my mom just always like trust your instincts and you know do what you love and go for it kind of an attitude and then just like if I'm gonna do something I'm gonna do I'm gonna go all in like I'm gonna go for it and I don't know I can say that like for those big scary goals it is it's just a little bit of I'm gonna go for this um and there's something it makes you just feel alive you know even when I remember when a friend recommended me for this stand-up comedy show and it was so scary and every day but it was like it was so cool every day to look through a new lens you know and to try it on and it's like you can go through a whole day and kind of not have something light you up but if you're coming from a place of like oh my God I'm training for this big scary thing or I'm gonna do this thing it's kind of like you know when you buy a ticket to go on a trip right you're it's like you're so excited you're already on the trip and you're not even on the trip so kind of like that it's like instilling that sort of excitement um in the daily and I guess I don't know it's funny because I do these things and I look back I'm like yeah that was really scary but it was it was fun too you know and it often goes hand in hand right where the growth happens it's often in that that's scary territory in that unknown yeah putting yourself in that situation yeah I think I I think I just like to live on that heightened on The Daily so even right now you know obviously like two kids now and all that so it's like every day is full but sometimes I'm like oh wait what is that next big thing and I can feel something brewing and I'm like playing with some things but right now like on my calendar there's not some big scary thing I have um but then it's like every day I'm kind of like hmm what did what is it gonna be next I'm plotting but I think I just like having something that excites me every day something something bigger that goal and I can highly encourage other people to do the same thing whatever that may be and I quite a few people can't even picture themselves running a certain distance a certain time a certain I couldn't many of times yeah and then I just chip away and slowly get like closer to something take in those small steps to work towards those bigger goals but eventually not being afraid to dream big and to really put something out there further further out it's like I we've all heard like it's the scare the the the feeling of failing or like the scarier to think about failing I don't know but it's almost like I guess once you have and you've put yourself out there and you've missed on things you kind of realize it's not as scary um I don't know it's like you have this one life right and somebody told me this long time ago like people on their Death Beds they only regret what they didn't do so I think it's that same feeling you I would rather just go for it and I think it's just an utter trust in myself like I will figure it out I'm gonna go for this and if all everything crumbles and everything goes to hell it's okay we'll figure it out what is the worst thing that can happen well there's some really bad things that can happen right but let's you know yeah let's know that we'll be all right yeah exactly oh my gosh yeah it's um I don't know might as well go for it right whatever it is like trust in yourself take the breath every day like dust yourself off and like go for it again and try another way you know oh that didn't work okay well let's try a different way think about it differently like be engaged in the conversation you know it's um I think I feel like a lot of people will like try and maybe if it wasn't instantly easy or something they'll uh get disenchanted but I think I like the work too I don't mind working for something sometimes I feel like I need to work a little less and let it come to me a little more um but um yeah I guess just there's magic in the working for it pushing through and seeing what's next because that is like you said it's when you grow and you expand and there's like I don't know there's beauty in all of that makes it fun I want to be respectful of your time over here because I know we've got some kids running around here as well that we got to get back to oh yeah um however um I do want to transition back to a little bit of the training cycle because I think obviously during a training cycle you have good days and you have bad and some some days are just more challenging to get out of the door and whether that is because the training volume is ramping up or you might experience that it's raining it's cold long or short days how would you suggest your athletes actually deal with something like that O2 is to your body not your mind oh a lot of the times it's just mental like you don't want to go um if it's your body like needing a rest that's different my rule of thumb that I give all my like marathoners is the 10 minute roll I do not care go for 10 minutes if after 10 minutes out the door wherever you're running if after 10 minutes you are 100 like I am not running today you can turn around and go back home because guess what 20 minutes is better than nothing 95 of the time you're gonna go beyond 10 minutes you just will yeah um so it's uh set yourself up like for me I have to set out my workout outfit the night before because a lot of times um like it's right now like three four five mornings a week I'm up at five to work out because I like to work get my workout in now before the kids are up so I can see them before I go to work and it's hard it's super hard but I have to set up my clothes the night before I'm not going to be fumbling around in the dark and getting dressed and waking people up so that's what works for me um make it as easy as possible to get the shoes on minimize excuses yeah and just like mind shut up like we're going we're going you know whatever it is and um but don't be afraid to adjust it too so I used to always have made it easier because when we were coaching like speed or Hill or stair workouts Tuesday nights it was like oh okay I gotta do mine Tuesday morning and so it became a it became my rolling speed workout so it's a little hard to just speed workout sometimes in the morning you know you're like a little harder to warm up and you know get a little older look colder whatever it is you know but like get the right gear so minimize minimize the excuses um but so I would wake up I'm like I'm gonna do the speed workout Tuesday morning and then if I would try try try and if I just wasn't nailing the times right away I'd be like you know what I'm gonna do it I'm gonna do it maybe I'll do it tonight or tomorrow morning so then I would roll it to Wednesday morning but if it was the same thing if I didn't hit it Wednesday morning Wednesday night was the last cut off that was my last and a lot of us I feel like will you know make magic especially artists it's like when it's due right but it's like it's not that you're necessarily procrastinating it's like you're you're ruminating on it you know you're figuring it out but but Wednesday night I would if it got to Wednesday night I would nail it Wednesday night you know so um yeah just uh make it make it less hard than it is you know because it is it's hard um but also listen to the body on the days when it's not gonna happen and it's okay to move it it's okay to roll it it's okay to flip-flop you know your big week and your small weight you know it's okay have some room in there to adjust it so now after many marathons and Ultras and dealing with a lot of athletes as well you have a lot of experience of running what kind of recommendations would you give your younger version of yourself like your your 20 year old Kate who is just getting started with running if you could go back in time you know it's like I was having fun with it back then um and I think it would just be like honestly being like you dude this is going to take you to places you never thought you were gonna go get ready for a fun adventure because it's not even like logistical advice I mean logistical would be like don't start your strength turning three years in do it right away you know like because I wasn't as good at the waves like my first year you know whatever it was like that would probably be the only thing um I naturally was pretty patient with it because I didn't have big crazy goals yet you know it wasn't until later I had the big crazy goals because I just it wasn't on my radar I mean when I started running there was literally like two types of Goos like blocks and Chomps and like and you know waffle like none of there was no options right there was like couple running Brands like clothing you know whatever it was um so it's like it wasn't there wasn't that all there but it was just like now I look back at it and sometimes I wish sometimes like oh man I really wanted to hit that like Olympic trials time you know or whatever it was like I don't know if I'm going to now and then I'm like maybe maybe I will maybe I won't like I'm not worried about it I will I'll go for it if I want to um but it would just be like look at all the magic along the way like it's been such a cool unexpected Journey like I never knew I was gonna run 100 miles and do an iron it like all these things like it's it's such a fun adventure like just go with it you know yeah yeah yeah yeah so there's there's quite a few people listening that are looking to improve their running times and become a stronger healthier happier athlete do you have any clothing closing where there's clothing less clothing do you have any closing thoughts over here of of suggestions for athletes to improve further I would say present on The Daily honor the body adjust as in like do what you can do to improve the little things like the um you know stability the strength training um push it like don't decide you can't do something like keep trying you know like whether it's a workout or a new distance or whatever it is it's it's fun to go after something a little scary but then don't hold back like go for it don't be afraid to push and then keep pushing but don't get so wrapped up in your mind like I've seen so many people um they're in the middle of it and they're obsessing over what already happened don't no be here in this moment what can you do right now and then just decide you're going to keep trying for that thing because like that's where that's where it all is you know that's where all that magic is where you're like you can look back and it doesn't really matter what happened then because as long as you gave it what you had and you gave it your best you're gonna be stoked on that you know so yeah yeah very well said thank you very much of course my pleasure sharing all the insights and I look forward to uh to another trail run very soon yes please can't wait thank you thank you for listening what was your favorite lesson take away or quote from this episode please let me know in the comments on YouTube and I'll actually pick two winners that will receive a zoom coaching call from me like a 30 minute session that we can go over any of your training or racing questions also every week I send out a newsletter to the extra mindless Community with running tips race strategies training insights different things that I'm learning and experimenting with in my own daily life if you would like to sign up for this free newsletter go to extramylestown.com this email typically goes out every Friday and goes out at this point to about a list of 11 000 people and the feedback has been really positive on a week bases over there so yes you can sign up at extramilest.com see also the link in the description over here I've really been having a lot of fun with these podcasts many more are in the work so stay tuned thank you for listening and have fun out there on your runs bye now foreign [Music]

Channel: Floris Gierman

Views: 91,614

Keywords: marathon, running, sub 3 marathon, marathon training, sub 3, sub 3 hour marathon, marathon workouts, marathon running, how to run a sub 3 hour marathon, boston marathon, run, chicago marathon, 3 hour marathon, sub 3 marathon training, runner, marathon training program, how to run faster, running tips, how to train for a marathon, run faster, boston marathon training, marathon training tips, ultra marathon, sub-3 marathon, run longer, how to run a marathon, running training

Id: Y_vmzyPpsgU

Length: 61min 48sec (3708 seconds)

Published: Fri Mar 31 2023